Water and air relief valve for steam-heating apparatus.



J. L. FITTS. WATER AND AIR RELIEF VALVE FOR STEAM HEATING APPARATUS. APPLXGATION FILED APR. an, 1900.

920,555, Patented May 4, 1909.

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WITNESSES: INVENTOR A9. 0/ 7w.

J. L. FITTS. WATER AND AIR RELIEF VALVE FOR STEAM HEATING APPARATUS.

APPLIOATIGN FILED APR. 20, 1906.

920,555, Patented May 4, .1909.

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. .IA MI 1S LQGAN.P1 1 1 8;'OFMEJMJHANTVILLE, NNW$153319! 'ASSIGNOR TO WARREN WEBSTER AND GOMRANY; or CAMDEN. M MCJTRRHIGLY. n noRum'mmioN-er NEW JERSEY.

W+TE3.;AND.AIR YBELIEF VALVE FORSTEAM HEATING APFARA'TUS.

. Speeification 61' Letters Patent} N 'QZOmI-ia 1m Patented May 4, 1.909.

.Zh all iuhom it mitt concern:

j Bel 1, JAMES Locals FITTS of 'Merchafntvi'lle, county of Camden, and

ofiNe'wJersey, have invented an impiov'einent,inWaterl and AirR-elief Valves forISteani Heating Apparatus, of which the l 'ollowing is a specification.

' "lhis invention relates to that class of valvesin which arn'cvablefioat or motor, controlled by the accumulation of water of "condensation in. the valve body, controls the outlet; and is provided with a tubular guide, which conimunicates with the outlet and "throu 'h' which air passes when the able difliciilty has'been' experienced in acwhicln would reduce friction, resul ts i5- complishing'the' seresults; a large clearance between the tubular passage and its uide, 1H waste of steam, andwhen the clearance is reduced to pr-event waste the liability of cloggingthe passageway is increased. It is also desirable thauthe tube and its guide "shonldbeke is free from adhering particles of sticky an oily natt/erwhich'rnay be carried in with the water of condensation and steam, and which, if permitted to remain,

mayseriously interfere with the operation of the valve. It is also of importance that such valves should'be noiseless in their operations. v V

It isthe object of my invention to over come the difficulties in valves of this charncter, and this object I accomplish by the improvements illustrated in the accompanying' dra wings; in 'whi'ch- Figure l'is a vertical, sectional view of a ralveenibod'yin'g the invention, Fig. 2 is a lioriaontalsection in the line A-- A of Fig. iFigfi 'is a i'ertical section similar to Fig. 1 illustrating another form and Fig. 4 is a cross section onthef line 4m of Fig.

The v alve;bo dy a may be of the usual character, having an inlet b and an outlet a. It' is shown open at the top and provided with a removable screw threaded cap 0?.

e is the float ormotor Within the vnlvebody, havin a tubular portion 9, the lower end of whic carries the valve plece j which rests upon" the seat piece 2' to close the thoroughfare to the outlet 0.

h is the depending guide which extends in the tubular portion 9 and acts as a guide for the ilout or motor Whensaid float 01' motor moves. This guide It fits the tubular portion snugly, but not too tightly to revent vertical movement, and is 'threade to form a spiral passageway j between it and the tube. This passageway forms a communication between the upper part of the valvebody and the outlet 0 through the tubular valve piece The passe geway thus afforded may be made of ample size for the free dis charge of air, while it will act to restrict the escape of steam, since steam will not pass uncondensed through a long spiral passageway of this kind even though the cross section of the passageway is substantial. This enables the cross sectlon of the passageway to be reate'r than would be possible with a straight clearance between the stem and tubular piece. This spiral passageway of such increased cross section will also freely drain off such water of condensation as ma pass into or be formed therein and wi I carry off with the water the particlesri f matter that have been carried with it its the motor or floatino-v'es, the threads of guide it act as scraping devices on the inner walls of the tube to remove adhering parti-' cles which are carried off through the spiral passageway creased because the spiral threads impart a rotary motion tothe float or motor on the guide It.

The tubular valve piece f which is carried by the tubular piece 9 is reduced in diameter, so as to reduce the area in the valve piece in communication with the orifice inI It is desirable that the tubular; piece should be of substantial diameter, and I have found that this reduction in the diseat piece 2'.

ameter of the valve piece enables the motor or float to operate more easily and under a greater differential in the pressures at the inlet and outlet than is possible with a valve piece of the larger diameter of the tube; The reduction may be effected by swaging the end of the tube as shown in Fig. 3 or by forming the seat piece of a small tube in sorted 11'! the end of shown in Fig. 1.

In the construction shown in Figs. 3 and This cleaning' action is in the tubular piece gas 4 instead of the guide rod h. of uniform diameter, I employ a wire or small rod ll: carrying one or more externally threaded cylinders n fitting within the tubular portion g. In the preferred construction these cylindrical pieces are preferably arranged adjacent to the top and bottom of the float or movable piece e when it is in lowered position, and are formed of hard rubber. The use of hard rubber eliminates the rattling sound which is liable to occur during the movements of the float when the guides are made of metal acting on the metal tubular portion 9. These hard rubber cylinders a may be conveniently secured to the wire or small rod kby washers 0 0 soldered to the rod. I have shown the wire or rod fastened to the cap by a small threaded tipp to which the upper end of the wire is secured. The small rod or wire transmits sound in much less volume to the cap and as the rattling sound is eliminated by the hard rubber cylinders n, the valve is ractically noiseless. I have shown the usual screen m about the valve to prevent the entrance of particles of matter: i

What, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows:

1. In a water and air relief valve for steam heating apparatus, the combination of a valve-body having an inlet and an outlet, a movable motor controlled by the accumulation of water of condensation in the valvebody and having a tubular ortion provided at its end with a hollow va ve piece controlling theoutlet and establishin communication between said outlet and t e interior of said tubular portion, and an externally threaded guide extending into said tubular portion and forming with the walls thereof a spiral air passageway.

2- In 'a water and air relief valve for steam heatin apparatus, the combination of a valveody having an inlet and an outlet, a movable motor controlled by the accumulation of water of condensation in the valvebody and having a tubular portion provided at-its end with, a hollow valve piece of reduced diameter controlling the outlet and establishing communication between said outlet and the interior of said tubular portion, and an externally threaded guide tending into said tubular )ortion and form: ing with the walls thereo a spiral air passa way. I In a water and air relief valve for steam heating it aratus, the combination of a valveody aving an inlet and an outlet a movablemotor controlling the outlet and controlled by the accumulation of water of condensation in the valve-body and having 'a tubular portion communicating,with the outlet. and a guide in said tubular portion consisting of a small rod or wire and a short externally threaded cylinder carried by the wire and fitting said tubular portion.

4. In a water and air relief valve for steam heating apparatus. the combination of a valve-body having an inlet and an outlet, a movable motor controlling the outlet and controlled by the accumulation of water of condensation in the valve-body and having a tubular portion communicating with the outlet, and a guide in said tubular portion consistin of a small rod or wire and a pair of s ort externally threaded cylinders carried by the wire and fitting said tubular portion adjacent to the top and bottom thereof.

'5. In a water and air relief valve for steam heating apparatus, the combination of a valve-body having an inlet and an outlet, a movable motor controlling the outlet and controlled by the accumulation of'water of condensation in the valvebody and having a tubular portion communicatin withthe outlet, and a guide in said tubufitr-portion consisting of a small rod or wire havinga threaded tip for connection with the cap of the valve-body and a short externally threaded cylinder carried by the wire and fitting said tubular portion.

6. In a water and air relief valve for steam heating apparatus, the combination of a valve-body having an inlet and an outlet, a movable motor controlling the outlet and controlled by the accumulation of water of 'condensation'in the valve-body and having a tubular portion communicatin with the outlet, and a guide in said tubu ar portion consisting of a small rod or wire and a short externally threaded cylinder of hard rubber carried by the wire and fitting said tubular portion.

7. I11 a water and air relief valve for steam heating apparatus, the combination of a valve-body having an inlet and an outlet, a movable motor controlling the outlet and controlled by the accumulation of water of condensation in the valve-body andhaving a tubular portion communicating with the outlet, a stationary rod' of small diameter extending into said tubular portion, and an externally threaded non metallic ide cylinder carried by said rod and h t ting the tubular portion.

, In testimony of which invention, I hereunto set my hand. t

JAMES LOGAN FITTS. Witnesses:

HENRY A. STRATION,

-F. J OSEPH MILLER. 

